This month, the U.S. Government Publishing Office issued a press release announcing the launch of www.govinfo.gov, designed to replace the Federal Digital System (FDsys) in 2017. A Government Publishing Office’s spokesman has called it “the Google for government documents.” See Roll Call article from February 3, 2016. The site is currently in beta and users are encouraged to share suggestions with the U.S. GPO for further improvements. The site is a mobile-friendly, easy-to-use navigation system to information on the three branches of government. It currently offers more than 1.5 million titles, with more added each day. The alphabetized list of collections available includes the Federal Register and the CFR; congressional calendars, bills, hearings, committee reports; the U.S. Code; court opinions; the federal budget and many more government publications. Searchers can use a Google like box and then use the facets to find results. Alternatively, users can choose a category to search, limiting a search to just bills, or just regulatory documents, etc. If users are only looking for documents from a specific Congressional committee, they can choose that selection.
For a Q&A to learn about the differences between FDsys and govinfo, read the post published on the site In Custodia Legis by the Law Librarians of Congress Meet govinfo, GPO’s Next Generation of Access to Federal Government Information.
